The below is a guest blog post from the incomparable Susan de Queljoe, a past president of PRSA Phoenix, client of HMA and great friend/colleague. Last week, senior-level PR folks were privy to an insider’s view on the Presidential Elections. Susan was kind enough to recap the event for our readers and the local PR community.

The PRSA Phoenix Masters Group met for breakfast last week to hear Kim Owens, an Arizona native and veteran political activist and consultant, give her perspective on the Presidential election process.

I wish you had been there. Kim addressed the many misconceptions we hold about the process surrounding the Arizona Presidential preference election in Arizona. It’s actually not about the will of the people, but the will of the party. And it begins at the grassroots level. Kim delved deeply into the process of how delegates for both the Republicans and Democrats are selected in Arizona and what their responsibilities are at the party conventions. Both parties select delegates differently and those delegates have different binding commitments at their respective conventions.

In the case of the Presidential primaries, Kim suggested that just going to vote is not enough if you really want to affect change. Instead, your role should be to understand who is making the decisions at the state level in the party of your choice and then make your views known to those people. Or better yet, find your way into the room and become part of the process.

Kim is a Republican who will serve as a delegate to the Republican National Convention. She noted how unusual this year’s Presidential election is with both Trump and Clinton suffering from unprecedented double-digit negative ratings.

When asked about her predictions for the outcome of the Republican convention, she reminded us it is still two months away -- a very long time in politics. And much could change. Same thing, she said, can be applied to the Democrats.

Kim holds dual roles as partner with Meridian Southwest, a political consulting firm, and as manager of political and corporate accounts at Gordon C. James Public Relations. She also is executive director of the Dodie Londen Excellence in Public Service Series which focuses on training Republican women for positions of leadership. Many of these graduates have been elected to state legislature, county positions, city councils and school board members as well as to numerous appointed boards and commissions.

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